Kildare lose venue appeal

Kildare have lost their appeal against the decision to play their crucial Round Four qualifier against Sligo in Dr Hyde Park. For the second successive week, Kildare were unhappy over the Central Competition Control Committee’s (CCCC) choice of venue for a qualifier match involving the county.

Yesterday the CCCC revealed that the Lillywhites would have to travel to Roscommon for their Round Four clash with beaten Connacht finalists Sligo but the county board were upset at the decision to play the match west of the Shannon and appealed to the CCCC to have the match played in either Clones or Breffni Park. However that appeal has been rejected.

Last week, county board chairman John McMahon expressed his disappointment with the CCCC after they chose to Portlaoise as the venue for the county’s third round tie with Limerick. Kildare had been first out of the hat and accordingly had home advantage but the CCCC felt that Kildare’s ground at St Conleth’s Park in Newbridge was unsuitable for the large number of fans expected to attend the game and decided to move the game to the much bigger O’Moore Park for health and safety reasons.

“For teams and supporters it’s not about gate receipts or the size of gates, it is about your team getting through to the next round,” he commented.

Now supporters will have to travel a long distance to a venue that is very familiar to their opponents, who lost the Connacht final in Dr Hyde Park nine days ago.

In a move that may also add to Kildare fans ire, it is also reported in today’s Irish Independent that David Coldrick will be in charge for Saturday evening’s game. The Meath referee is not held in the highest regard by many of the Lilywhite supporters as he has been involved in some of the controversial decisions that have cost the team dearly over the last few summers.

Owens steps down as Waterford manager
By Aisling Crowe

John Owens has resigned from his position as manager of the Waterford football team after three years in charge.

Owens masterminded his side’s promotion from Division Four of the National Football League in 2010, the highlight of his tenure.

Last year the Deise enjoyed a good run in the qualifiers before exiting in round three. However their championship campaign was disappointing this year. They lost to Limerick in the Munster championship before taking Wicklow to extra time in their qualifier tie before eventually losing out.

He becomes the fourth managerial casualty of the season so far, following the departures of Luke Dempsey (Carlow), Eamonn McEneaney (Monaghan) and Paddy O’Rourke (Armagh).

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